The Mathematics Genealogy project is a huge database of mathematicians, where and when they got their degrees, and who their advisors were. (There's also a wiki-based Philosophy Genealogy.) Nice pastime when the polar vortex keeps you from leaving the house: find famous people in your academic family tree. If you're in the Mathematics Genealogy, you … Continue reading Academic Genealogy Graphed
Month: February 2015
CfP: Hilbert’s Epsilon and Tau in Logic, Informatics and Linguistics
Dates: June 10-12, 2015Location: Montpellier, FranceSubmission deadline: April 1, 2015 This workshop aims at promoting work on Hilbert’s epsilon calculus in a number of relevant fields ranging from Philosophy and Mathematics to Linguistics and Informatics. The Epsilon and Tau operators were introduced by David Hilbert, inspired by Russell's Iota operator for definite descriptions, as binding … Continue reading CfP: Hilbert’s Epsilon and Tau in Logic, Informatics and Linguistics
In Memoriam: Grigori Mints
A memorial site has been set up to honor Grisha's memory. A memorial conference in honor of Grisha Mints will be held at the Third St.Petersburg Days of Logic and Computability, August 24-26, 2015, at the Euler International Mathematical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. The following obituary was included in the January 2015 Newsletter of the … Continue reading In Memoriam: Grigori Mints
Previously Unknown Turing Manuscript Going to Auction
You may have heard that a notebook by Alan Turing, which he left to Robin Gandy, is going to auction in April. Bonham's, the auction house, has kindly permitted me to share the auction catalog. The notebook apparently dates from around 1944. The mathematical content is divided into two parts, one on Peano's axioms (judging … Continue reading Previously Unknown Turing Manuscript Going to Auction
Carnap (and Goodman and Quine) and Linguistics (Guest post by Darin Flynn)
(This is a guest post by my linguistics colleague Darin Flynn) I was intrigued by your last post—that Carnap (apparently) gave serious consideration to suggestions by Gödel and Behmann that he use “semantics” rather than “syntax” in the title of his 1934 book. The story we’re told in linguistics is that Carnap learned to love … Continue reading Carnap (and Goodman and Quine) and Linguistics (Guest post by Darin Flynn)
Carnap on “Syntax” vs “Semantics”
Carnap's Logical Syntax of Language actually deals with semantic notions such as "analytic." Why, then, didn't he call it "semantics"? When the project was still in its early stages, Carnap sent a manuscript entitled "Metalogik" to Heinrich Behmann. Behmann objected to the title and suggested as alternatives first "Logic of Language" and then "Semantics." Carnap … Continue reading Carnap on “Syntax” vs “Semantics”